Supreme Court Imposes ₹1 Lakh Penalty on Advocate for Frivolous Plea Against Rahul Gandhi’s Lok Sabha Membership Restoration

In a recent development, the Supreme Court has levied a penalty of ₹1 lakh on a Lucknow-based advocate who had filed a petition seeking the quashing of the August 7 notification that reinstated Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Lok Sabha membership. Gandhi’s membership was reinstated following a Supreme Court order that stayed his conviction in a 2019 criminal defamation case related to the use of the ‘Modi’ surname.

A bench comprising Justices Bhushan R Gavai and Sandeep Mehta dismissed the petition, labeling it as “frivolous.” The bench expressed concern over such petitions, stating that they not only waste the court’s valuable time but also burden the entire Supreme Court registry with unnecessary verification exercises. The court emphasized the need for imposing exemplary costs on such petitions to discourage litigants from misusing the avenue of public interest litigation (PIL).

The Supreme Court had earlier, on October 20, dismissed a similar PIL by advocate Ashok Pandey, imposing a ₹1 lakh fine for challenging the restoration of Lok Sabha membership of Nationalist Congress Party Leader Mohammed Faizal. The court’s brief order recorded its stance against baseless petitions and highlighted the importance of deterring misuse of PIL.

In the present plea, Pandey argued that disqualification based on conviction and sentence should persist until set aside in appeal. He urged the court to decide whether the conviction of an accused can be stayed and if, based on such stay, a disqualified person can become eligible for parliamentary or state legislature membership. Pandey also sought a direction to the Election Commission to declare the seat held by Gandhi vacant and conduct a fresh election.

Rahul Gandhi’s parliamentary membership was restored on August 4 after the Supreme Court, led by Justice Gavai, stayed his conviction. The court argued that the trial judge failed to adequately explain the rationale behind imposing the maximum punishment on Gandhi, emphasizing the deprivation of proper representation in Parliament for the people of his constituency. The court’s order acknowledged the wide ramifications of the punishment on both Gandhi’s political career and the electorate’s right to proper representation.

Gandhi, who was elected as an MP from Kerala’s Wayanad in 2019, faced disqualification for 131 days before the Supreme Court’s intervention paved the way for the revival of his parliamentary membership.

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